Surprise! I'm not dead...company told me I was flying out to NYC in the morn last week. Haven't had any time to write. And so...the show goes on!
Puchi
Lineir pulled himself up from the snow once he was assured the Jin Clansmen wouldn't be coming back. He made sure that his robes were completely clean of the scent of the explosions from earlier, even going so far as to rub snow on them and then steam off the water with a flash of fire Qi.
Sizzzzzz
His robes clean, he walked forwards and followed the tracks deeper into the mountain pass. Eventually, he came to one of many twists and turns which forked into separate paths. Beneath the white tipped mountain tops Lineir pondered his options.
"I could follow them down and tail them. Look for a chance to ambush them. But I imagine they came prepared. Alternatively I can take my own path to the Proving Grounds and leave it to Fate. Mmmm...." He thought it over and Mei stayed silent letting Lineir make his own choices. Eventually he decided,
"I'll leave it to Fate. My knowledge of the Snowfall Mountains is probably better since I can follow the Snow Empress's route, it'd be a joke if I couldn't beat them to the punch. If we meet at the end somehow though..." He revealed a familiar grin. "I wouldn't mind teaching the Jin Clan a lesson in Miss Wei's place!"
And like that the race was on!
Tac Tac Tac!!!
Every step he took Lineir exerted his whole strength to fly many meters through the sky before landing. He was vaguely familiar with most of the monsters in the area from the Snow Empress's description and was confident that provided he avoided a few freakishly strong beasts in Snowfall Mountain, he should be alright.
"Originally I planned on taking it slow and enjoying the scenery as a way to temper my Third Heart. But now that other's have obtained the location of the Proving Grounds it is only a matter of time before it is discovered. I suppose that's alright though, I've always performed my best under pressure!" Lineir felt a touch of fiery warmth in his heart which could have been the fire Qi he was constantly burning, or perhaps it was the remembrance of all the life and death situations where he had raced against those stronger and older than him. However, this time, he felt quite comfortable. Ironically he felt more comfortable here in the Higher Realms than in the Lower Realms. The reason being that the Lower Realms had begun to feel a bit small for him. Thus if he encountered an enemy it was usually something quite powerful or mysterious. This time, he was merely facing an ordinary and even subpar clan in the vast Higher Realms. He didn't have to fight Gods or Demons to find a challenge in the Higher Realms.
"I'm just one of many here...nothing special again." He chuckled as he rushed through the snow. Using his control of the Laws of Darkness he would solidify the snow beneath his feet so that he could take a solid step without sinking several meters or leaving behind a crater every time he pushed off. The spiky crags of the mountain skyline seemed to flow backwards as he rushed forwards. While he encountered some wild magical beasts such as Tier 7 Cold Fur Wolves and Tier 8 Ice Blue Foxes he rarely had to engage with them. They possessed enough intelligence to recognize that an armed cultivator who was traveling at high speeds was not to be trifled with. That was assuming Lineir wasn't actively hiding from their presence of course.
Tac Tac Tac
His feet crunched through more and more snow until he came upon a spot with no trees or boulders in the snow.
"Hmm...no trees or boulders...this is it!" He cried out and suddenly leaped into the air while unleashing his Phoenix wings!
Shreee!!
There was an invisible cry as an illusion of a Phoenix was created and then Lineir wrapped the wings around himself and plunged through the frosty air directly into the snow below!
TSSSSSSK
For a second Lineir burned through several meters of soft snow and then he suddenly hit a layer of ice and smashed through!
KACHA!
Whoosh
Lineir unfurled his wings and quickly braked after breaking through with a shower of twinkling snow.
"So it's true, there really is such a place here..." He quietly whispered as he gazed around. Surrounding him were awe inspiring columns of ice so perfect that one had to wonder if they were natural or if a truly godly architect had dreamed them up. Surprisingly, though he had passed a layer of ice, unlike at Star Stream Lake, underneath this place, was actually a cavernous ice cave filled with air!
"Whew, I was almost expecting to plunge right down into the lair of more of those serpent beasts..." A shudder passed through Lineir as he remembered the hideous mouth which had risen from underneath the ice of Star Stream Lake when he had rescued the Wei girls. Since he had once been eaten by a Water Serpent and survived, Lineir still felt a certain aversion towards water type snakes and reptiles. Not to mention dragons...
Tac Tac Tac
Lineir walked around and inspected the area. As he looked up, he beheld what a mortal would have seen as a cold dark and morbid looking ceiling. However, to his cultivator eyes, the ceiling was actually quite well lit and appeared a clear blue color which separated out the sunlight through many layers of snow and ice like a giant dome of stained glass. He then stared down into the distance trying to pierce the darkness with his eyes and Divine Sense.
"So it really does go on for kilometers..." He said as he started to walk down. From Bing Wei's description the tunnel would go for several kilometers and then come out underneath the Proving Grounds. Of course, that was if one had precise directions. Otherwise it would be easy to wander beneath Snowfall Mountain for years!
"Mmm? What's that?" Lineir caught something sparkling out of the corner of his eye. He cautiously walked closer and realized it was a drop of iridescent water hanging from an icicle!
"Kiddo! That water is filled with a strong Yin Qi! It's quite useful for cultivators who use Yin based arts like Ice Laws!" Mei suddenly said and Lineir immediately reached out to collect the drop. As he did he felt an extreme chill from the drop. He almost dropped it as the sensation was quite shocking.
"Ahk!" He gasped and quickly stored the drop of water inside a container in one of his many storage rings. A second later a gleam lit up in his eye.
"Mei...you don't suppose all the ice in this place is filled with this Yin Qi do you?" His expression turned greedy as he eyed the numerous icicles and even the massive ice pillars!
"Idiot, do you think Yin Qi is that easy to find? Although...then again the unique layout of this place has probably filtering the Qi for a very long time. Screw it give it a shot!" She called out and Lineir devilishly whipped out his bone scythes and sliced off an icicle which he preceded to melt with a blast of Flame Qi in his hands.
Tssssssssssss
He eagerly stared at the tip of the rapidly melting icicle in his hands. A few seconds later a drop of clear sparkling liquid formed! It was exceedingly cold and when it fell from the icicle into his waiting palm, it didn't splash apart like a normal drop of water but instead simply flattened out into a little pool.
"It works!" Mei and Lineir cried out. Soon Lineir was furiously ripping icicles off from the tunnel and melting them down. He quickly had buckets of Yin Qi water!
"Ahahaha, no more money problems, there's plenty of Ice Law cultivators in Snowfall Citadel. Once I go back I can definitely auction all this water off for a huge price!" Lineir flickered around doing a bizarre juggling act ripping off icicles and melting them with one arm and collecting the dew with his free hand. Soon enough there were no more icicles. The greedy gleam in Lineir's eyes turned into full blown rapture as he stared at one of the ice pillars.
"Let's do this!" He roared as his Phoenix Qi wings exploded out to full blast and he began to smash chunks of ice off the pillar!
KACHA! KACHA! KACHA!
"Break for me!!!" He cried as he snatched flying droplets of melted water out of the air and deposited them into his spacial ring.
"AHAHAHAHAAHAHAH!!!!" He laughed as the entire pillar dropped to the ground. Then he ran to the next and the next not even bothering to count how much he was collecting. With his level of power, even with the restrictions of the Higher Realms he had soon destroyed several pillars! It was only as snow began to fall down from the ceiling above several ruined ice pillars that Lineir stopped.
"Alright, that's enough, anymore and I might bring this whole place down." He happily cried out and began to continue down the tunnel towards the Proving Grounds. As he left, the ice cave roof, no longer supported by ice pillars, began to slowly bulge inwards as powdery snow sifted through growing cracks....